


oh, the weather outside is frightful

by knightsgold (tamxiety)



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Christmas AU, Christmas Special, F/F, Fluff and Angst, SuperCorp, boy I hope you're ready to get a face full of the Christmas spirit, but with a peppermint twist
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-15
Updated: 2016-12-23
Packaged: 2018-09-08 20:32:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 20,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8860000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tamxiety/pseuds/knightsgold
Summary: To celebrate the holiday season, I've decide to allow myself to write this ridiculous story instead of study for finals.***Kara is an agent of the DEO (Department of Extra-Special Operations) at the North Pole. She's been assigned a case, a woman desperately in need of the Christmas spirit. Who is this woman? Why, it's Lena Luthor! And Kara has to work quickly--she only has until Christmas Eve to spread her holiday cheer to the one woman who needs it most.





	1. Oh, By Golly

On December 1st, Kara wakes up with an extra pep in her step. She practically floats—well, actually, she _does_ float—out of bed with an indescribable sense of excitement singing in her chest. Her feet don’t touch the ground as she whirls around her room, brushing her hair and gathering the different parts to her uniform. She hums as she goes, changing songs on whim, barely able to keep from shouting out in elation. Finally, after eleven months of waiting, it’s _Christmas season_.

Now, it’s important to point out that living at the North Pole—near Santa’s Workshop specifically—meant that Kara was never at loss for Christmas-related experiences. Settled in between craggy mountains wracked by howling winds and year-round snow and ice, the North Pole had been Kara’s home for as long as she could remember. She had grown up learning to make toys next to Santa’s helpers, feeding and grooming the reindeer, and eating the greatest, softest cookies on Earth. Every year since she could walk, she had participated in the daily going-on’s of the Workshop, helping Santa alongside everyone else. And now? Now that Kara was an adult, with perfect marks in toy-making, decorating, baking, reindeer care, and joy-spreading, her true calling was being realized with her new assignment: Special Agent for the DEO (otherwise known as the Department of Extra-Special Operations). Her heart nearly burst just thinking about it.

To be chosen to be a part of the DEO was an honor beyond all others. Though every job at the North Pole was equally important, the DEO was one of the few departments that got to extend beyond the Workshop, to the outside world. Kara sighs happily as she ducks into her closet to pull out her bright red boots, freshly shined, of course. DEO operations tended to be a bit slow in the other eleven months of the year, but _now_ , at the start of the big show, things were about to get interesting.

Once her hair is brushed shiny and all the parts of her uniform are on, Kara checks herself out in her wardrobe mirror. Red boots, check, white stockings, check, long-sleeve red dress with white fur trim, double check. Her eyes fall on the black ‘S’ emblazoned on her chest and she tries not to swell up with pride. The ‘S’ is for Santa.

“You got this.” Kara nods to herself. As a final check, she counts off the pieces of her uniform a second time. Everything seems to be in order except—oh! Her hat! The final piece to her outfit was hanging on her bed post. Kara grabs it and tugs it on, adjusting the fuzzy ball at the end just so. After one more rundown, she’s ready.

Rather than fly to the DEO headquarters, Kara decides to walk so that she can soak up the sights and sounds of the morning. The street outside her small home is already bustling with activity as everyone prepares to dive headfirst into the busiest month of the year.

There is a light dusting of fresh snow on the rooftops of the various building she passes and hundreds of footprints tracking through the covering on the ground. From somewhere ahead of her, the smell of gingerbread cookies wafts through the air, dragging her slightly off of her original path in pursuit of it.

The scent leads her to the front of Mrs. Pennyworth’s Bakery, mouth watering. Unabashedly, Kara sticks her head through the open window of the little yellow building. She is rewarded with the sight of several trays of fresh cookies and elderly Mrs. Pennyworth smiling at her.

“Good morning, Kara! How are you today?” Mrs. Pennyworth says, smile lines crinkling at the corners of her eyes. Her gray hair is sprinkled with flour and her hands are coated pure white with the stuff. A smack of warm air hits Kara in the face as the multiple ovens before her stoke themselves.

“I’m great, Mrs. Pennyworth. Better, now that I’ve smelt these cookies.”

“Would you like some, dear? I have five more batches in the ovens.”

“Oh, I couldn’t…” Kara says, though Mrs. Pennyworth sees right through her. The kindly woman clucks her tongue at Kara and waves a hand.

“You are always welcome to cookies here, Kara.” She chuckles, wrapping a few fresh ones in a large piece of parchment paper.

“Thank you, Mrs. P. Do you think I could get some for Alex, too? She loves your cookies.”

“Oh, of course, dear!” Mrs. Pennyworth gathers up a second set of cookies. “Tell her I said hello.”

“I will. Thank you, again.” Kara smiles as she gathers up the packages in her hands. “Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas!”

The rest of the walk to the DEO is relatively uneventful aside from a few greetings and ‘Merry Christmas’’s exchanged with those she passes in the street. The amount of people outside increases the closer she gets, probably because most of them are also heading to work. To expedite her journey—and make sure Alex’s cookies don’t get cold from being outside too long—Kara gives up on walking and leaps into the air, sending herself well above the tops of the buildings around her.

The only thing that stands equal to her now is the gleaming form of the Workshop, with its shining windows and golden façade bright in the early morning sun. Kara flies further upward, through the cold wind, until she is parallel with the very top floor. She lands softly on the wide, open balcony outside of it and strides into DEO headquarters with her head held high.

Already, there is a flurry of action in the cavernous space the DEO called home. The oval-shaped room had an arching ceiling with large golden clocks, globes, and maps hanging down from it. The marble floor was full of desks and DEO workers (some dressed like her, some not) hurrying about with stacks of paper, as well as the sound of phones ringing and information being passed between agents. Kara takes a deep breath as she strides past the desks. Some of the agents turn to look at her, and a few even wave. But, for the most part, business goes on as usual. Kara is the new kid on the block, so her arrival certainly shouldn’t halt the presses, even if she is a bit different from your average DEO agent.

Her destination is the raised platform at the back of the room. On it are several more gilded maps with self-running printers spitting out stacks of paper at the exact moment agents walk by with waiting hands. Kara knows that the papers are full of names and ages and locations of all the people on Earth, with an emphasis placed on ‘Special Cases’.

A ‘Special Case’ was usually a person who was in danger of having the worst possible fate befall them: Losing the Christmas spirit. Losing the Christmas spirit was tantamount to losing one’s very heart. Young, old, rich or poor, everyone deserved to experience such a joyous time of year with a full heart. That was why Kara was so excited to work for the DEO—they were the ones who made sure everyone had a chance at a Merry Christmas.

At the back of the platform stood the two people in charge of making those chances happen, Director J’onn and her adoptive sister, Alex. They were both clad in their usual pristine white uniforms with the brilliant red accents running from the shoulders down that Kara had always been jealous of before she got her own suit. Their backs were to her as they hunched over one specific maps, discussing something in low tones. Kara steps onto the platform and holds herself a respectful distance back. She’s still the new girl here, even if her sister is second in command. Thankfully, it only takes Alex a moment to realize that she and J’onn have company.

“Kara! Hey, congratulations!” Alex abandons J’onn and the map to bound over to Kara and wrap her in a hug. Kara relaxes into her sister’s arms, realizing that her body had been tight with excitement since she stepped out of her door.

“Hey, Alex. What’s the congratulations for?”

“For your first day.” Alex lightly ruffles Kara’s hair as she steps back to appraise her sister and her new uniform. “Nice outfit.”

Kara picks at the trim of her dress and ducks her head. Compared to Alex and J’onn, she is slightly overdressed. Their uniforms are sleek, while hers is…well, it’s a statement. “This is what I’m supposed to be wearing, right?”

“Of course.” J’onn rumbles from his post. “You’re a field agent now, Ms. Danvers. Don’t start doubting yourself so soon.”

“Of course, sir.” Kara nods and straightens up. Alex rolls her eyes with her lips quirked up, but she too straightens up and lets professionalism bleed back into her features. Gesturing with one hand, Alex invites Kara over to the map. They flank J’onn on either side and take in the glowing apparatus. All the countries of the world are suspended in front of them, floating among gently swirling gold dust. Millions, maybe billions, of tiny figures move around on the surface of the map. Kara can only assume that they are the very real people that the DEO watches over.

“This is amazing.” She whispers.

“This is a crucial tool.” J’onn explains. He runs his hand over the map, dragging it through the tendrils of dust and flexing his fingers over a specific section. As he does it, the map dissolves like sand in an hourglass, running down, down, until it begins to collect again in a brand new shape. Kara recognizes it as the United States of America. Just like the first version of the map, it again features the tiny figures moving about. There are so many of them, all fading in and out to be replaced by new ones, that it looks like a vast sea of shining, little lives.

“We use the maps to track Special Cases.” Alex says. “But you knew that already.”

“I didn’t realize how… _incredible_ it was.” Kara shakes her head, staring down at the map.

“You better get used to it. You’re getting assigned to one of them.” J’onn says. Kara’s head jerks up, disbelief plain on her face. She could never have expected to get an assignment on her _first day_ , sister-of-second-in-command or not. Immediately, hundreds of different scenarios flash through her head. Maybe she’ll be sent to a little girl in Maine or a little boy in Sacramento, or maybe both, or maybe _neither_. There were just so many possibilities!

“Me? I’m getting assigned right now?” She gasps. Alex catches her eye over J’onn’s shoulder and motions for her to keep calm.

“Yes, Special Agent Danvers, you have an assignment. I wouldn’t normally give someone as green as you a mission so early, but you are, as we all know, different. You have been since Jack Frost blew you to our door.” J’onn says. “None of our other agents have the capabilities that you do.”

Kara battles with a strange mix of emotion as J’onn speaks to her. The first is pure delight at the thought of being able to help someone for the first time, because there is nothing she wants to do more. The second, however, is a confusing sense of bittersweetness.

Because, yes, Kara has always been different. She hadn’t been born at the North Pole, not like Alex was. She had arrived on the howling winds of a blizzard, right on the Workshop’s doorstep. According to Alex’s retelling of the story, no one had known what to do with a sudden small child, one that was completely untouched by the cold that had brought her to them—especially not one that started to float three feet off the ground when they freed her from her blankets. So, they brought her before the one man who would know what to do: The Big Man, Santa Claus. Now, Kara didn’t know what had transpired when she was brought before Santa, but it had ended with her adoption into the Danvers family, a family known for their exemplary toy-making and a little girl just a few years older than Kara had been. And thus, Kara’s new life began. Sure, she could fly, blow blizzards from her mouth, and lift Santa’s sleigh with one hand, but none of that mattered in the face of having Alex and the Danvers as her family.

Now, with Alex looking at her with pride and a little worry flashing in her eyes, Kara resolves to go above and beyond for whomever she is assigned. She may not know where she came from or why she was so different from everyone else, but she does know what it means to be cared for, and that is something she can share with those who need it.

“I’m ready, sir.” Kara says, resolute.

“Good, you’re going to need to be.” J’onn draws his hand through the map again, zooming it in to a specific part of the U.S.A. The name ‘National City’ hangs underneath it. “We have a case here that is going to require a special touch. It’s different from what we normally handle.”

“Why is that?”

“The target is…unusual.” Alex mumbles, catching J’onn’s eye. They share a moment of silent communication before Alex nods and continues, “But we’re assigning you because we think that you have a better chance at this than anyone else.”

“You guys are making me a little nervous.” Kara says, palming the edge of the map console.

“We wouldn’t send you if we weren’t sure of at least a 55% chance of success.”

“ _55%?_ That does not make me feel better.”

“It’s not supposed to.” J’onn cuts in, shooting Alex another look. “You passed all the tests to be appointed to this department, Agent. You knew what you were signing up for. Don’t allow nerves to distract you from that.”

“Right, sorry.”

“As I was saying, this case is different. That is because your assignment is outside of our normal jurisdiction.” J’onn swipes up a handful of dust and throws it upward. It disperses for a second and then rejoins into the shape of a woman. An adult woman. “This is Lena Luthor.”

“She’s…an adult?”

“Did you think we only dealt with children? The DEO watches out for all the _people_ of the world, Agent. Nothing as arbitrary as age defines whether you deserve to have the Christmas spirit.”

“Oh, of course!” Kara’s eyes widen. “I just mean—I thought it was a lot harder to help someone who doesn’t believe anymore?”

“It is.”

“So, you want _me_ to do this?” Kara hums uncertainly. “Are you sure I’m the right person for the job?”

“You can fly, Kara. You’re the right person.” Alex says, her tone certain enough that it eases some of the anxiety fizzing up in Kara’s stomach. If Alex thinks she can do it, there’s nothing left to do but trust that her sister wouldn’t set her up to fail. “Don’t overthink it.”

Kara leans her weight on the console so she can peer closer at the miniscule, shimmering figure. It was hard to gather much information from the detail-sparse representation, but Kara wanted to attempt to commit to memory the indefinite features of this woman anyway. If she was going to help her, she was going to have to understand her, and if this was all she was going to get for an image, it would have to do.

“Is there anything else I should know?” She asks. Out of the corner of her eye, Kara notices Alex make another face at J’onn. “Come on, I can tell you two are keeping something from me.”

Alex taps the console with her fingers, “Kara, this is going to be a difficult assignment for another reason.”

“Don’t tell me she doesn’t like eggnog or something!”

“No, it’s not that…” Alex shakes her head. “J’onn, help me out here?”

“Her brother is on the Naughty List.” J’onn spits it out without much fanfare. Kara’s heart drops into her boots. Being on the Naughty List, that wasn’t something that came lightly. Anyone who’s name was scrawled in jagged charcoal across that dry, cracked scroll had to have done something nearly unforgivable. Once a name was added to the list, that person would never experience the Christmas spirit again. It was horrible.

“What did he do?”

“More wrongs than we can count.” J’onn crosses his arms and inclines his head to Kara. “That is why it is so important that you try to help his sister. If she is anything like him…“

“We will have a brand new addition to the list on our hands.” Alex finishes for him. Kara’s eyes drift back to the figure of Lena Luthor. She is reluctant to pass judgement on this woman before she meets her, genuinely knows her. Had someone done that to Kara when she arrived at the North Pole, she may never have had a home, or Alex.

“But you don’t know if she’s good or bad, right? There’s still a chance?”

“If anyone has a chance, it’s you.” Alex shrugs. From somewhere within the console, a ‘ding’ sounds out. Alex bends down to a slot in the gilded machine, grabbing the single piece of paper that it pops out. She flicks it open and squints down at the freshly-printed type. “Okay, Kara, your requisition has just been fulfilled. We can head down to the equipment room and get you set up.”

“I’m leaving _today_?” Kara gulps, looking between J’onn and Alex.

“Yes. This is an extremely time-sensitive operation. As far as we can tell, Lena’s status as a Special Case is only valid for a month. It expires on Christmas Eve.”

“Oh my goodness.” Feeling slightly lightheaded, Kara blinks and raises her hands to her face. Midway there, she realizes that she’s had Alex’s cookies clutched in her hand this whole time and hastily hands them over to her sister. “Oh, jeez, sorry. Mrs. Pennyworth says ‘hello’, Alex.”

“I was wondering when you were gonna hand these over.” Alex moans as she pulls back the parchment paper. “Mrs. Pennyworth is an angel.”

“Sorry, I was distracted.” Kara chuckles lightly, still having a hard time believing that she’s got a real assignment. Alex waves her off and bites the head off of the first cookie.

“Let’s go.” She mumbles around a mouthful of gingerbread, pushing Kara with her free hand. “We need to get you packed up.”

“You are capable of this, Special Agent Danvers. Both of you.” J’onn calls after them. Kara glances over her shoulder and catches him giving her a subtle thumbs up. It makes her feel better.

Alex leads her away from the command desk and towards a set of elevators on the right side of the room. She has demolished her second gingerbread man by the time she pushes the button. Kara reaches a hand into the packaging and pulls out a cookie for herself.

“What?” She says when Alex hunches protectively over the treats. “These are for me, too.”

Glaring a Kara with mock-wariness, Alex backs herself into the elevator when the doors slide silently open. As the elevator jerks into motion and starts carrying them down, they play a game of chicken in the confined space, with Alex ducking and dodging Kara’s hands, while the latter does her best to only move at a normal, fair speed so as not to make Alex’s efforts completely useless. That said, if she uses a bit of extra speed to snag a few pieces of cookie, that is far from cheating.

The game picks up in intensity to the point where, when the elevator finally stops at their destination, both Danvers siblings nearly go flying out the door and into a poor guy balancing a stack of papers taller than him.

“Sorry!” Alex grunts as he lurches around them and into the elevator. She catches Kara by the shoulder and rights herself, walking them out of the elevator all business-like. As the door closes on the man, Alex maintains her commanding stance. But, behind her back she surreptitiously breaks a gingerbread man in half and passes it to Kara’s waiting hand. She leans to the side and whispers, “This is what I get for working in the same department as my sister.”

“Consider yourself lucky.” Kara says, bumping Alex with her shoulder. “You aren’t going to have that much fun with J’onn.”

“That’s harsh but true.”

“So, what do we do here?” Kara asks as she takes in their new surrounding for the first time. This floor is less impressive than the DEO headquarters. It looks like it more for utility than anything else. Thick wooden beams stretch across the ceiling and the walls are lined with what look like lockers carved out of dark wood and glass. It’s nearly empty save for the large circular desk at the center of the room that is helmed by a small, older man in a striped red shirt and green jacket. He doesn’t even glance up from the paper he is reading when she and Alex approach him.

“Roger, I’m here to pick up a fulfilled requisition.” Alex says. He peers at them through a pair of thick spectacles. Slowly, he lays the newspaper down, cracks his hands, and leans forward on his elbows.

“Number?” He croaks.

“999-8212.” Alex says patiently, though it’s clear she holds some definite distaste for Roger. He works his jaw, adjusts his glasses, and sluggishly reaches for something obscured by the edge of the desk. When he finally moves his hand into view, a small, silver key is held between his index finger and thumb. Alex holds her hand out and he drops it into her palm.

“Thank you, Roger.”

“Always a pleasure, Agent Danvers.” Roger rasps. Alex hums noncommittally and guides Kara away from the desk. She leads her to a locker near the end of the row and sets the key into the lock on the front. The door unlocks with a quiet huff, hitting Kara with a light scent of cedar. She fights the urge to peek around Alex and instead waits for her sister to pull all of the items off of the shelves. The first is a small, gold and silver phone with an unusual addition to the top, kind of like a miniature candlestick, but without the candle. The next was a black, rounded rectangle about the size of a playing card. And, finally, Alex pulled out a red, satin sack, immediately recognizable as a regular-sized replica of Santa’s sack. Kara’s breath catches in her throat as Alex lays all the items out on the bench in between the lockers. Seeing all of these things made everything feel so much more real.

“Congratulations, Kara. This is your official DEO equipment.” Alex motions at the Spartan collection of objects. “These three things are everything you could possibly need. The phone is to contact me or J’onn. It will always reach one of us, regardless of where you are. All you have to do is say one of our names.”

“Wow.”

“This card,” Alex holds up the rectangle, “is for making purchases with all mortal forms of currency. The mortal world is very concerned with money, so be careful that you don’t forget to pay for things all the time. Oh, and it has a budget, so don’t go crazy with it.”

“Got it.”

“And this bag is exactly what it looks like: A bag. But, like Santa’s, it can hold much more than you’d think.” Alex takes the phone and the card and drops them into the sack. They make no sound as the disappear into the satin and, when Alex hands it over to her, it feels no heavier for having anything in it. Kara cinches the top and tosses the straps over her shoulders. “And you remember the most important rule, right?”

“I can’t use my powers in front of any mortal people, unless the situation is dire.”

“That’s right. And, no, a dire situation doesn’t mean a cat in a tree.”

“But, Alex—“

“I don’t make the rules, Kara. The cat has to fend for itself.” Alex shrugs. Kara crosses her arms, but lets the old argument drop in the face of speaking her exhilaration out loud, because her first mission is _real_ and it’s happening _now_.

“I can’t believe this is finally happening, Alex.”

“Neither can I.” Alex sighs. “But you’re going to do great.”

“How do you know?”

“You may not have been born here, but I have never met anyone who embodies the Christmas spirit more than you do.” Alex says, her voice cracking a little bit. She reaches out and pulls Kara to her, wrapping her in a fierce hug. Kara squeezes her gently as Alex mumbles into her shoulder, “I’m so proud of you. I’m going to miss you while you’re gone, but I am so, so proud of you.”

“Thanks, Alex. I love you.”

“I love you, too. And, Kara? Don’t worry if you can’t do it. As long as you do your best, that’s all we can ask for.”

“Okay. But I’m going to do it. Lena Luthor isn’t going to know what hit her.” Kara laughs. Alex slaps her back and pulls away, wiping at her eyes quickly before she schools herself back to a reassuring smile.

“I’m sure she won’t. Come on, let’s get you briefed and on your way.”

 

 ***

J’onn’s final briefing is more official than the first, and when he and Alex hammer down the facts of the case, Kara is reminded of why they run the show. It takes several hours for all of the proper procedures to be followed, so there isn’t much time for Kara to anything besides repeat back to them the purpose of her mission, the who, the where, and the what, and then sign off that she won’t reveal her powers to anyone while she is in the mortal world. It’s a formality, but a necessary one.

After they finish going over everything, J’onn and Alex walk her to the very same balcony she arrived on. The sun is well into the process of setting, lighting the mountains that thronged the Workshop on fire in orange and purple. Alex catches her in one last hug and J’onn nods his goodbyes in his own reserved way. A few other DEO agents wish her luck, offering bits of advice and congratulations. But, as the sun creeps further down, Kara knows she has to leave. She gives Alex one last wave and steps away from the warmth of the DEO, out into the chill of early night. With a deep breath, she pushes off the balcony, shooting into the sky.

Below her, the Workshop and all the buildings surrounding it shrink until they resemble fireflies settled in the snow. Kara’s breath puffs out as she bursts through the first layer of clouds, weakening the lights below to a dim glow. She reaches out and drags a hand through the weightless masses, completely unaffected by the freezing temperatures at this altitude. The water trapped in the clouds freezes on her hands, leaving ice crystals that tumble from her palm.

As Kara flies, she thinks about her mission. Lena Luthor could be anything and anyone. J’onn had told her that Lena was the CEO of her family’s company, appointed in the aftermath of her brother’s fall from grace. She lived in National City, in the United States of America, at an address Alex had provided Kara. But, there was little other information about Lena.

Well, except for one thing. During the briefing, Alex had pulled up Lena’s records, the ones that were kept on file for any child that sent Santa a letter. Usually, the letters began around age four and ended around age thirteen—an unfortunate fact, but an understandable one. But Lena was different. The very last time Lena Luthor had written to Santa had been when she was five years old. She had asked for only one thing—a family.

            Kara’s heart ached for the little girl writing those words. In way, Lena wasn’t so different from her. They both began their lives without families of their own. She could only hope that the Luthors had been to Lena what the Danvers had been to her.

The dying rays of the sun are dipping below the horizon. Above the clouds, the world has been plunged into night. Kara flips herself so she’s skimming her back across the fluffy tops and facing the twinkling stars that span across the deep, dark blanket above her. She settles her hands behind her head and studies the constellations. Though she’s not moving at top speed, there is still some difficulty in connecting the dots. She finds the Big Dipper and Ursa Major and deems that a decent enough job.

Before she can get too distracted by the stars, Kara reaches back for her sack. It takes a second, but eventually she gets it balanced on her stomach and tugs it open to retrieve her phone. One tap of a button on the side pulls up a map of her current trajectory. It’s far more rudimentary than the magical maps at the DEO, but it tells her that she is about ten minutes away from National City at her current speed. Excitement bolts through her veins.

Why wait when she could just pick up speed? Kara tosses the phone back into the sack and secures it tightly to her back. Once everything is in place, she takes a deep breath. One, two…three. Kara lets herself drop through the clouds, breath catching in her throat as she plummets. The wispy vapor parts for her without struggle, streaking after her body as she tumbles, down, down, only righting herself so that she can actually see where she is going.

And, wow, was there a lot to see. The land below her was awash with lights, ten times the amount that lit up the Workshop. There were lights on building, in windows, lining roads, coming from cars. The brightness was an assault on her eyes after flying through the dark. The lamp-lined roads snaked around all manner of buildings with well-lit windows. Some of the buildings rose so high they brushed the low-lying edges of the clouds Kara had just been above. And the _sounds_! Kara could hear rumbling engines, horns, the roar of an airplane taking off, the buzz of electricity. There were voices, too, having one-sided conversations as they walked down the street.

She slowed herself to better take in the scene, drinking in this place and how different it was from the North Pole. The air here was decidedly warmer than the Pole, and there wasn’t a speck of snow, but she knew it was a cold winter for the people who lived here. At her best estimate, it was cold enough to wear gloves, if you needed that sort of thing.

A quick check to her phone proves that, yes, this was indeed National City. It was beautiful. Expansive. Kara pulls herself upward so she can circle the top of a skyscraper and look out across the city.

Lena lived in the center of downtown, on the top floor of a large, white building. It was easy enough to spot from where she was. It seemed almost lonely, as it stood out in strong contrast to the more muted, average-looking buildings around it.

The energy that had been building in Kara’s body since she woke up in the morning is reaching an all-time high. It was practically zinging off of her at this point.

Kara abandons the skyscraper she was on. She zips to Lena’s building, touching down on the thin balcony outside the top floor. Nearly hopping with anticipation, Kara rushes forward to the windows that line the side of Lena’s penthouse. Her breath condenses on the pristine glass. It is dark inside, so she can’t get a good glimpse if anyone is home. Perhaps this is how Santa felt whenever he delivered presents—the thrill of surprising someone and bringing them joy.  Kara truly hopes Lena is in there somewhere. She won’t be able to handle her own eagerness much longer.

Of course, there is the dilemma of how to find out if Lena is inside. It is impossible to tell from the outside.

 _That decides it_ , Kara thinks. Gingerly, she tests the handle of the balcony door. It swings open without a sound.

Heart high in her throat, Kara steps into Lena’s home. Without the windows in the way, the apartment is much easier to take in. It is an open design, mostly white with wood floors and accents of black. There is a large fire place that hides a staircase behind it, a kitchen with an island, a set of couches and chairs sunken into the floor near the fireplace, and, on the other side of the staircase, it seems like there is an office space. But what strikes Kara about this place is that it is empty. Completely empty. Aside from basic furniture and few painting on the wall, the apartment is bare. Kara paces forward and flicks her head around. Not one personal detail anywhere.

She walks to the kitchen, in search of the fridge. Even if there was nothing to be gleaned from the interior design, surely there had to be something in the fridge to teach her _something_ about Lena. Like, maybe she enjoyed cake or eggnog or caramel apples? Yet, when she tugs the fridge open, there is only a cartoon of eggs and one solitary bottle of green juice. Kara huffs in frustration.

A part of her wants to call Alex. Alex would know what to do. But, Kara didn’t want to rely on Alex on her very first mission. She wanted to prove that she deserved her uniform and the respect of the DEO. And, most of all, she wanted to help someone who needed it.

Kara is shutting the fridge when she hears a telltale ‘click’ by the front door of the apartment. In a panic, she flashes back to the center of the room, hands clasped in front of her. She can do this, she just needs to introduce herself, explain why she’s here—

“No, Thomas, I told you we need to develop safer housing for the battery before we move forward on production…” A soft-yet-commanding voice drifts through the front door as it is pushed open by a woman. “No, keeping the battery from corroding is crucial. Yes, that’s my final opinion on it.”

The lights flick on. Kara stares. Lena Luthor stands before her, hunting for something within her purse as she kicks the door closed behind her. She is smaller than Kara expected, but that hardly matters in the face of how… _stunning_ she is in real life. Her hair is dark, so dark it’s almost tinged with blue, like the color of the night sky Kara had flown beneath. Her lips are painted a vivid red and her green dress is form-fitting. She was perfect, like one of the angels that topped a Christmas tree. The gold dust figure in the DEO had truly done nothing to capture reality.

“I am out of the office now, Thomas. We’ll continue this discussion at—Oh my God!” Lena catches sight of Kara standing nervously in the center of the room and drops her phone on the floor. She scoots backward, her hand flying to a panel on the wall. “Who are you? What are you doing in my apartment?”

“I’m Kara. I’m here to help you.” Kara says, doing her best to sound calm. Lena doesn’t buy it.

“Help me? How did you get in here? I swear, I will call security!”

“Please don’t do that!” Kara holds her hands up. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“Frighten me? You broke into my apartment!” Lena spits.

“Um, I—“ Kara sputters. Oh, she really didn’t think this out. This was a mistake, a big, big mistake. “I’m sorry?”

“Oh, you’re sorry. Well, I guess it’s all okay then.”

“Really?”

“No!” Lena yells, fury and confusion clear in her eyes as her initial fear wears away. Kara winces. She’s really botching this. She’s going to be the laughing stock of the North Pole, barred from working for the DEO, stuck with coal shoveling, and labeled a complete failure.

“Lena, please—“

“How do you know my name?” Lena squints suspiciously at her.

“I was given it.” Kara steps forward. As soon as she does, Lena shuffles backward until she’s pressed against the door. “Please, I’m not here to harm you in any way. I was sent to help you.”

“By who?” Lena frowns, and then her eyes darken. “Did Lex send you? Is this his idea of a joke?”

“A joke?”

“Yeah, you’re one of those sexy Christmas grams, right? With that costume and all?” Lena asks. Kara coughs and blushes at her words, palming uncomfortably at the hem of her dress. Lena seems to pick up on her discomfort, because she blushes a little too. “Or not.”

“I’m not…that. I’m here to help you.”

“You haven’t said with what yet.” Lena says, hand still hovering over the panel in the wall. “And you better get to it or you’re being carted out of here.”

“To find the Christmas spirit!” Kara steps forward again. This time, Lena doesn’t move, but that may be because she couldn’t back up any further. Kara takes another step and gives Lena a soft smile. The other woman doesn’t return it.

“I don’t believe I need any help with that, thanks.” Lena says.

“I was told you do.”

“Look, I’m going to have to ask that you leave and tell whoever sent you here that I don’t find breaking and entering funny. And, if it’s Lex, tell him to go irritate someone else.” Lena peels herself off the door and pulls it open. Kara’s eyes jump between Lena’s unamused face and the lifeless beige of the hallway, feeling a bit desperate now that her first meeting with her charge has tanked so spectacularly.

“Okay.” Kara sighs. “Okay, I’ll go.”

“Thank you.” Lena leans across the doorway to tap a specific button on the panel and begins to speak, “Carlos, please come up and escort an unwelcome guest from my property.”

Kara feels shame course through her. She hangs her head as she steps out of the apartment. Lena’s eye burn holes into her back. Everything in her is screaming at her to just leave, to run and regroup—that is, with the exception of one determined part of her brain that is demanding that she not give up so easily. That voice sounds like Alex and it sounds like J’onn and it doesn’t want to her to leave Lena Luthor in a sparse apartment thinking that the only reason someone would send her help would be as a joke. So, she turns around and locks eyes with the woman she has been tasked with.

“I am going to help you, Lena Luthor.” She says, resolute and firm. “Everyone deserves to have a Merry Christmas.”

The door slams in her face.

Kara doesn’t let it bother her. If she’s going to do this, she’s going to do it right, and if that means she has to move mountains to get Lena Luthor to believe, so be it. Like J’onn said, she is the best person for the job.

 

 ***

 Though she didn’t want to, Kara calls Alex, who picks up instantly.

“ _Hello? Is everything okay? How’s everything going?_ ”

“Things are…going. This might be harder than we thought.”

“ _Where are you? It sounds windy?_ ”

“I’m on top of a building.” Kara says. Her legs are hanging off the edge of the tallest skyscraper she could find. The outside of it is emblazoned with the word ‘CatCo’, but Kara isn’t quite sure what that means.

“ _Have you found Lena yet?_ ”

“Yes.”

“ _Have you made contact with her?_ ”

“Yes.”

 _“I get the sense that something didn’t go well.”_ Alex’s voice lowers. Kara sighs and waits a moment to respond as a harsh gust of wind buffets her.

“She wasn’t exactly pleased to see me.”

“ _Please tell me you didn’t scare her._ ” A beat. “ _Kara…”_

“I didn’t scare her! It was just a bit of a rocky start, that’s all.” Kara lies through her teeth. She feels bad, but she doesn’t want to deal with Alex’s disappointment, not yet at least. This was still salvageable. “That’s not why I’m calling you. I have a question.”

“ _Shoot_.”

“What’s the budget on this card?” The black card sits in Kara’s hand, held tightly to avoid it blowing away in the wind.

“ _Roughly 500 gold coins…_ ”

“How much is that in American currency?”

“ _We live at a magical workshop in the North Pole, Kara_ , _I’m not exactly up to snuff on the exchange rates in the mortal world!”_

“Can you ask J’onn then?”

 _“I—fine. Give me a second.”_ The line goes quiet save for the muffled sound of Alex walking, and then J’onn’s muted voice says something that Kara can’t make out. There’s a rustle and Alex is back on the line again. _“He says it’s about $20,000.”_

“Is that a lot?”

“ _Yes, I’m pretty sure that’s a considerable amount. But please don’t buy something incredibly expensive._ ”

“I’m not going to. I going to buy multiple things.”

“ _Do I even want to know?_ ”

“Probably not. I won’t break the budget though.” Kara turns the card over in her hand. “Thank you, Alex. I have to go, but I love you.”

“ _I love you, too. Call if you need anything_.”

“I will. Bye.”

“ _Bye_.”

The line goes dead. Kara closes her eyes as another rush of wind whips past her. She’s got work to do.

 

*** 

One of the first things Kara learns once she sets out to fulfill her mission is that very few stores sell Christmas decorations while simultaneously being open at 2:32am. She had flown all over the city for an hour, searching for a decoration store, before she learned that there were very few stores that expressly sold Christmas decorations at all hours of the night. It took a kind lady in a place called McDonalds telling her that her best bet actually laid outside the bounds of the city, in a town called Midvale. Kara had thanked her profusely and offered to give her a gift as a form of gratitude, but the woman declined on the account that while she wasn’t hesitant to help a girl in an all red outfit in search of garland, she wasn’t interested in being dragged into strange business with said girl in the dead of night. Which was fair enough.

Regardless, that is how Kara ends up soaring over the bare treetops of the sleepy town of Midvale. Her destination is ‘Marty and Milly’s 24-Hour Christmas Emporium’, which is apparently the one place in a hundred-mile radius that can meet her needs. It certainly is hard to miss. The Emporium is lit up like a bonfire, searing Kara’s eye as soon as she is within two miles of it. It’s well off the beaten path and basically completely removed from civilization, but that doesn’t matter to Kara, because as soon as she lands in front of it and takes in the sign that says ‘ _1000 Lights for $10 – Final Sale_ ’, she knows she’s come to the right place.

The inside of the Emporium is equally as gaudy as the outside. It is packed to the brim with every kind of decoration one could think of—from life-sized wooden reindeer to twenty-foot-tall blow up Santa Claus’s. Kara stays away from the blow ups, however, as they seem a little bit… _much_. Actually, she avoids a lot of the more unusual decorations in favor of filling her cart with the basics. Garland, lights, wreaths, ornaments, ribbons, candles, tape, nails, a hammer, and a few other bits and bobs all get thrown into the cart until the stack is so high she has to levitate a little bit to see over it.

The skinny, exhausted looking teenager at the checkout line sees her rolling her titanic cart out of the stacks and audibly groans. He has a stained Santa hat pulled down over his floppy hair and a dead look in his eyes.

As he individually scans all the items in her cart, Kara makes a mental note to have Alex look into getting a DEO agent assigned to him. The poor thing looked like he despised Christmas.

“Do you want bags for these?” He asks.

“Yes, please.”

“And do you need a dollie to get these to your car?”

“No, I’ll just carry them. To my car. That I have.”

“All of them?” He intones, casting his vacant stare down at the monstrous pile of decorations. “Are you sure?”

“Yes…” Kara trails off. He looks at her once and then back at the growing collection of back on the counter.

“Okay.”

Flying away from the Emporium with both of her arms laden down by twenty-odd bags isn’t a necessarily enjoyable experience, but it doesn’t dampen the excitement Kara feels when she lands on top of Lena’s building and dumps them down on the cement just as the sun is clawing its way over the horizon.

Rather than physically search the apartment to find out if Lena was home, Kara allows herself to push her abilities beyond what she normally would and listen for Lena’s heartbeat. It requires a lot of focus, as normally she dampens the sounds around her. But there is nothing. Lena’s not home.

And so it begins. Kara flies the bags down to the balcony and lets herself in the same way she had the night before. The apartment is silent as she creeps in with her train of rustling plastic. She leaves the bags near the couches and takes a quick lap around the kitchen and living room spaces, appraising her decorating options. There was definitely potential, that was for sure.

As Kara is mentally finalizing her plans, the panel on the wall next to the door catches her eye. She floats over to it warily. Gingerly, she taps a finger on the dark screen, praying that it won’t trigger some kind of security protocol and ruin her plans. Thankfully, the panel does nothing but light up and offer her a prompt.

“ _How can I help?_ ” Says a disembodied voice.

“Um, don’t call security?”

“ _I do not understand the request.”_

“Okay, could you, please, turn off the security?”

“ _I do not understand the request._ ”

“Alright, whatever.” Kara sighs. She leaves the panel as is.

Diving back into her purchases gives her a variety of options. She could start with lights, garland—there was literally no limit to what she could do. Stuck in her thoughts, Kara doesn’t realize that she starts singing.

“Oh by golly, have a holly, jolly Christmas this year…” She hums to herself, tearing into the boxes of two different kinds of garland she bought.

 _“Now Playing: Have a Holly Jolly Christmas by Burl Ives.”_ The panel sounds off, music immediately pouring from hidden speakers in the apartment’s ceiling. Kara’s jaw drops. A laugh bubbles up in her chest as she spins on her heel. Now this was more like it!

Kara bounces off her toes and into the air, bringing the lengthy strands of garland with her. She swoops low to pick up the tape and nails and hammer and then twirls upward, laughing and singing along with the song.

“I don’t know if there’ll be snow, but have a cup of cheer!” She shouts in the empty apartment, whooshing around with her supplies. One strand of garland goes around the banister on the stairs and the other frames the fireplace.

The lights are next, and they get gratuitously hung along the wall of windows, the lowered ceiling of the kitchen, and the wall that separated the fireplace from the stairs. The wreath goes above the fireplace, the candles at strategic intervals, and the ribbons anywhere that there wasn’t something already.

Kara sings the whole time, effortlessly changing between songs as the panel plays her classic after classic. The piano, the bells, they crescendo. The music dances, and so does Kara.

She doesn’t hesitate with even one decoration. Lena’s penthouse is like a blank canvas begging to be filled with color and light. The modern white and black is warmed by both the sunlight filtering in and the addition of greens and reds and golds. The only things that go untouched are the ornaments, which remain in their boxes, waiting for their time to shine.

Kara drifts down from the ceiling with a few nails caught between her teeth. She tosses the hammer from hand to hand, appraising her work.

The fireplace was wrapped in garland and lights, the mantle lined with candles that smelt of fresh baked cookies—which reminded Kara that she needed to check and see if the fireplace was even real. The rest of the living room space featured a healthy assortment of smaller decorations, like a miniature metal snowman on the stand behind the couches and a bundle of holly bound by tinsel in the previously empty vase on the coffee table.

The kitchen was slightly more understated, with less lights and less garland save for the length wrapped around the island. Rather than overdo it with large decorations, Kara had opted to tie a few ribbons around the cabinet and drawer handles, as well as place a few candles. Simple, but a definite improvement.

All the apartment really needed was a tree, a great big one that could stretch up towards the elevated ceilings. But it was a cardinal sin to choose someone else’s tree for them, so Kara had left that task for another day.

Overall though, everything looked good—if she did say so herself. It was no Santa’s Workshop, but it cheered up the space pretty effectively. A greater sense of calm creeps into her now that her work is done. At least, in doing this, she has taken a step to doing her job.

Unfortunately, it is still early morning. As far as Kara can tell, Lena won’t be back until dark again.

“Hey, panel, stop the music.”

“ _Stopping music.”_

“Thanks.” Kara says to it, mind elsewhere.

For the first time since arriving in National City, Kara has time to kill. Lena’s apartment is decorated to the best of her ability, but without Lena physically present, there wasn’t much to do there.

An idea comes to mind, one that might be helpful in understand her target better. Kara replaces the hammer and the nails in the shopping bag, mulling over her options. Thanks to Alex, she knew where Lena worked. It would take about thirty seconds to fly to the L-Corp office building.

“Panel, should I try a little recon mission?”

“ _I do not understand the request._ ”

“Yeah, I figured.” Kara blows out a breath.

How could it hurt? She wouldn’t have to _interact_ with Lena, just observe her. It beat skulking around the penthouse alone, that was for sure.

Kara leaves the shopping bags where they are. She takes to the air from the balcony, carving high above the tops of the skyscrapers. There aren’t as many low-lying clouds as the night before, so Kara is forced higher into the sky. Up there, there is an abundance of cover for her hid above as she skims her way towards L-Corp.

Even though Kara doesn’t know much about National City, she can appreciate its individual charm. The streets are wide and welcoming, it’s clean, and there are parks full of children. Of course, it _is_ more contemporary than she is used to, but that doesn’t take away from the sprawling picture below her. If anything, it enhances it.

Spotting the L-Corp building is easy enough. It’s tall and gleaming sliver, like a beacon. Kara flashes out of the clouds and dives low, landing at the top of the building. From where she stands, she has a diagonal line of sight to what she assumes is the biggest office in the building. And who should be sat in that office with her back turned to the window other than Lena? Kara steps out onto a narrow ledge that jutted off the building and sits down, kicking her feet in the free air.

From her vantage point, she can see Lena with her arm propped on the desk, talking on the phone with someone. She’s wearing black slacks and a white shirt, although the shirt could be blue—the window distorts the colors a bit.

Kara tilts her head. Lena’s office is also free of decoration, and that can’t be company policy because there is an office three floors below her that has Christmas lights strung along the windows. Actually, there are several offices with visible Christmas decorations, which only makes Lena’s look more out of place.

Down below, Lena seems to end her call and lays her phone on her desk. She puts her head in her hands and rubs at her temples, shoulders slumping. Kara frowns. It’s barely 9 o’clock and Lena looks like she has been working for days.

Suddenly, Lena’s shoulders jerk up and her posture becomes rigid. Kara leans forward so she can get a better look. A woman—definitely older than Lena, but not elderly by any means—strides into the office with her coat hanging in the crook of her arm. Underneath her desk, Lena’s left hand clenches.

The woman cuts a direct path towards Lena’s desk, pausing about a foot away. She says something and Kara sees Lena smile, but her hand doesn’t unclench. The woman picks up a paper weight from the desk, turning it over in her hands as she continues to speak. Lena says something back occasionally but, for the most part, the older woman runs the show.

Kara bites her lip. Her eyes continuously drift back to Lena’s hand, curled into a ball. _Eavesdropping would be wrong_ , she tells herself, but it’s impossible to tear her eyes away from that hand and the smile plastered across Lena’s face. So, she listens.

“….need you to give me an update on the Crosby Street project.” The older woman says.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.” Lena smooths back a piece of hair that had fallen in front of her face. She twists in her seat so she can keep the other woman in front of her.

“And why not? It’s December 2nd, and I want this in motion by the 24th.”

“Christmas Eve? Don’t you think that’s a bit on the nose?”

“Business never sleeps, dear.” The woman chuckles. “And this is a business visit, so let’s finalize the details quickly.”

Lena’s smiles falters briefly before for returning in full force. Kara leans farther forward, balancing herself on her palms.

“Silly me, _mother_ ,” Lena bites through her teeth, “to think that you’d want to visit your daughter on anything but business.”

A howling gust of wind nearly throws Kara off the top of the building. This woman was Lena’s _mother_? Kara has to float to readjust herself on her perch.

“…be overdramatic. You act as though I’ve never done anything for you.”

“I’ll have my staff send the details.” Lena says, popping open on of her desk drawers. Her mother considers her for a moment and then turns on her heel, leaving the paperweight upside down on Lena’s desk.

“Thank you, dear. Merry Christmas.”

Kara can hear the office door click shut. Only once her mother is gone does Lena’s hand finally unclench. She sits in silence, staring at the spread of papers across her desk. Kara studies the way her jaw tightens as she sits frozen in her chair.

The ringing of Lena’s phone jolts both of them. Lena grabs it, but Kara has stopped listening to what she says. A pit of sadness wells up within her for the woman below her. She thinks back to five-year old Lena’s request for a family. It would seem Kara was incredibly lucky with who ended up raising her. Apparently, not everyone could say the same.

As it would happen, Kara spends hours watching Lena, thinking about what her life had been like before this. The Lena in front of her eyes writes emails, reads reports, and speaks to her secretary firmly, but not unkindly. She works for hours and hours and hours, and it is only Kara’s own stomach growling that makes her realize Lena doesn’t even stop for food.

The sun starts to dip and Kara doesn’t move. She stays in the exact same spot as she had been for the entire day and marvels at how dedicated Lena was to her job. The only time the woman pauses the onslaught of papers and phone calls is to check the extended weather forecast on her phone—no more than a 30 second break. Otherwise, it is the same, endless stream of work. No one walks into her office besides her secretary when she’s handing over a new folder. Not one soul.

Kara’s muscles are practically stone by nightfall. She heaves herself up from the ledge and shakes out her legs. They crack and groan at her and, quite honestly, she can’t blame them. She might as well become an out of place gargoyle at this point.

As it has gotten darker, one by one the lights of the other offices have started to flick off. In fact, after half an hour of guessing which ones will turn off when, the last window goes black, leaving Lena as the lone source of light in the building.

“Go home, Lena.” Kara whispers into the night. “Go home.”

Cars honk on the streets beneath her. The harshness of the street lamps hurts her eyes. They are nothing like the soft glow of the lamps at the North Pole. Kara looks out over the city again. It has not lost its charm, but she feels almost angry at it for allowing one person to be so lonely while also being surrounded by millions. Because Lena Luthor is alone in this place and Kara doesn’t need to look at office windows to be sure of that.

That’s why it is almost a miracle when she sees Lena turn off her computer, gather her things, and walk out of her office. Immediately, Kara hurls herself off the ledge. Though she could be back at Lena’s apartment in seconds, she waits, waits until she sees a shiny black car pull out of the VIP parking garage. Kara drops a little lower in the air because it’s nighttime and she won’t be seen and she doesn’t want to lose the car in the busy streets.

The car pulls smoothly into the flow of traffic, weaving through the honking, clogged masses like they aren’t even there. Kara follows it effortlessly, hovering when it hits a red light, and speeding ahead when it starts to drive again. She can barely breath from the excitement constricting her lungs once the car reaches Lena’s building.

Afraid she might go into cardiac arrest midair, Kara touches down on the balcony, mentally coaching herself not to be disappointed if her plan goes up in flames. All the decorations are just as she left them, waiting in the dark for Lena to come home. Kara presses herself against the wall outside the balcony so as not to be seen and keeps a watchful eye on the front door. She hops from foot to foot as she waits.

For five minutes, nothing happens. And then, at last, a crack of light splinters from the front door. Kara nearly puts a shoulder-sized dent into the wall.

Lena walks in with her head down, eyes on her phone. Distractedly, she drags her hand on the panel and says something to it. The lights turn on. Oh yes, that’s right, _the lights turned on_!

Lena’s penthouse goes up in a blaze of glory. The fireplace, the stairs, the kitchen, the ceilings, all of it comes to life. Lena jerks backwards. Her phone falls to the ground as she catches herself on the door frame.

At first, it seems like she is going to be stuck in that position forever. Her eyes move, but nothing else. Kara holds her breath. Then, very gradually, Lena peels herself off the door. She touches a hand to her face and takes a disbelieving step into her home. Her feet set her on a looping path around the area, eyes wide with amazement. Her hands trail over the garland on the fireplace and fiddle with the hat on the metal snowman. The mission of discovery takes her over every inch of the room. She even stops to smell a candle.

But that is not even the best part. The best part is when, still dumbstruck, Lena plops down on her couch. Kara has to twist her body around the wall to see her face, but it’s worth it for what she sees.

Lena _laughs_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's Part 1! Hope you enjoyed it, comments are always appreciated. Find me @knightsgold on tumblr if you want to :)


	2. Jack Frost Nipping At Your Nose

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so, I apologize at how late this update is coming and that it may or may not push the conclusion of this story to post-Christmas. I really underestimated how much of a hassle finals, traveling, and all the other holiday activities would be in combination with writing this. But, who cares? I'm having fun and I hope y'all are all having fun and that's all that matters. (Any mistakes are mine!)

It is a gray day in National City. Fat, listless clouds clog the sky and block the sun, leaving the streets full to the brim with hunched, shivering citizens clutching at coats and coffees to make themselves feel warmer. It _smells_ of cold; a sharp, icy scent that burns the lungs and nose indiscriminately.

Kara has never been able to find something to compare the smell of cold to. It isn’t flavorful enough to be called minty, yet it’s not severe enough to be called metallic. It just is what it is.

Unfortunately, the smell of cold is all she and National City seem to be due for. After a quick flight into the stratosphere, Kara had confirmed earlier that morning that there was no snow hiding in those lethargic vapors. Today would be little more than a gray day, at least in terms of weather.

Kara doesn’t mind gray days. She likes the sun and its warmth, but living in the North Pole offered a sense of familiarity with gloomy skies. The cold didn’t bother her much either, in National City or at the Pole. Alex always complained that _she_ should have been the one to have extreme resistance to cold, purely on the basis of being older with poorer circulation. That argument had yet to be settled.

Kara grins to herself as she walks down the street. People pass by in various forms of full body wrapping. The children toddling around like colorful little marshmallows with gloves poking out the sides are especially fun to watch.

In an effort not to stick out in the throngs of mortals surging in and out of the shops and offices in downtown National City, Kara had ditched her uniform for white sneakers, leggings, and a soft, thick, cream-colored sweater. In a guilty splurge, she had also purchased a heavy brown jacket and a long scarf in red plaid. They weren’t expensive purchases though, as she was reluctant to use much of the money provided to her on herself.

These new additions to her wardrobe are accompanied by a few other outfits that could pass for ‘normal’. All of them are stored in her bag, along with her phone and the card. In the aftermath of her first meeting with Lena, it felt prudent to attempt to blend in better with her surroundings. In her uniform, the only places Kara could go without drawing questioning eyes are toy stores and coffee shops, and the coffee shops are hit or miss at best. So, looking mortal is her only choice for pulling off the third phase of her plan.

Ah, that plan. Decorating Lena’s apartment had been a resounding success, compounded by the image of Lena’s tired face breaking out into laughter. Kara had hidden on the balcony for what felt like hours watching Lena’s shoulders shake and her eyes dart around. The other woman didn’t move from that couch for a long, long time, and when she finally did, she simply went upstairs without touching the lights again.

Kara had left then. Exhaustion had been biting at her heels after 48 hours of being awake and while she was fascinated by her, she had no desire to wait the night out for Lena to awaken in the morning. The roof of Lena’s building is where she had ended up bunking down for the night. Sure, she could have flown to a motel or something, but the cement and the cold didn’t bother her and just the thought of flying another inch was fatiguing in itself.

But now, well rested and perky, Kara feels a renewed sense of purpose as she makes her way through the flow of people downtown. There are two steaming to-go cups of hot chocolate in her bare hands, one for her and one, hopefully, for Lena. That’s the plan, anyway.

The immaculately clean front entranceway of L-Corp is just a few yards from her, beckoning her in from the busy sidewalk. Kara dodges around a stroller attached to a mother having a rapid conversation on her phone. She offers the harried woman a half-smile and waves her pinky at the baby bundled in several different blanket—all without spilling a drop of hot chocolate.

Kara takes the entranceway steps two at a time, squeezing through the revolving door nearly pressed into the back of a man in a heavy trench coat.  She skirts around him as soon as there is enough room to breathe and stumbles out into the atrium of L-Corp. It does not look like what she expected.

Rather than clean, stylish metal and glass, Kara is struck by clean, stylish metal and glass that are also covered in a healthy layer of Christmas decorations. There are wreaths on pillars and chrysanthemums potted in the small sections of landscaping. The polished marble floors reflect the silhouette of a towering tree bedecked with the finest gold and silver ornaments and lights that stands centered at the far end of the floor. All of the work has clearly been done by a professional, and while it may be a bit artificial-looking for Kara’s tastes, to see decorations in the lobby of a building controlled by Lena Luthor is surprising to say the least.

She cuts a direct path through the mob of employees trying to get to the elevators and heads to the reception desk nearly the Christmas tree. The woman there is about her age, wearing a blazer with a pin in the shape of a stocking stuck into the lapel. She doesn’t look up when Kara arrives in front of her.

“Uh, hello?” Kara dips her head to try to catch the woman’s eye. “Excuse me, I was wondering if you could help me?”

The woman’s eyes flick up. She takes a long look at Kara and taps her newly painted nails on her desk. Uncomfortable, Kara straightens her neck back up and tries to match the woman’s probing stare.

“How can I help you?” The woman asks.

“I need to see Lena Luthor.”

“Do you have an appointment with Ms. Luthor?” The woman focus shifts to the two hot chocolates in Kara’s hands.

 “Um, no…?” Kara shakes her head. She moves the hot chocolates so that they are below the lip of the desk and away from the woman’s scrutiny, as it suddenly feels like she’s made an unintentional statement in having them.

“I’m sorry.” The woman says. “If you don’t have an appointment, I can’t allow you to see Ms. Luthor.”

Kara bites her lip. She had no valid reason to have an appointment with Lena, not even one she could make up. It also wouldn’t be smart to just fly into Lena’s office in broad daylight and say ‘ _Hey, could you, like, forget that I just magically floated thirty stories and strolled into your office? Yeah, thanks, that would be great’_. In this case, the direct approach would probably be the best approach. It usually is.

“I know I don’t have an appointment, but if you tell Lena that Kara from her apartment is here to see her, she will let me up.”

“’Kara from her apartment’?” The woman repeats, eyebrows ticking up.

“Yes.” Kara nods. She lifts the cup designated for Lena and waves it in the air. “And if that doesn’t work, you can have this other hot chocolate.”

That does it. Once she’s given Kara another once-over, the woman shakes her head and opens her desk drawer. She pulls out a silver earpiece no longer than Kara’s thumb and settles in her ear. Then, she taps it and starts speaking.

“Good morning, Ms. Luthor. I am sorry to interrupt, but you have an unlisted guest requesting to see you….Yes, ma’am, I did inform her about the appointment policy.” The woman bounces her nails on the desk again. “She says she’s ‘Kara from your apartment’.”

Kara shifts on her toes. There is silence for a few, agonizing seconds, save for the repetitive click of nails on granite. Then, the woman’s face twitches faintly.

She looks up at Kara and says, “Ms. Luthor would like to know why she shouldn’t call security on you.”

“Oh! Well.” Kara coughs. Apparently, two could play at the direct approach. “Tell her that I….that I brought a peace offering!”

Kara’s message is relayed into the earpiece. Nails to granite, nails to granite. Kara resists the urge to grab the woman’s hand and put a stop to the noise. It’s not a horrible sound, but it’s making every second of waiting feel agonizingly long. Finally, when Kara is reaching her limit for listening to acrylic on stone, the woman receives an answer.

“Ms. Luther says you may come up, but security is still on the table. Use the private elevator. It’s there, to your right.”

Kara thanks her and whisks away from the desk. Her heart flutters as she nears the elevator, beating at the same out of control pace as her thoughts are rushing at, caught up in envisioning scripted scenes playing out between her and Lena. The best case scenario is Lena’s wholehearted acceptance of Kara’s goals, no questions ask. The worst case involved security guards tackling her over the balcony. Kara decides not to dwell on either as the elevator doors swallow her up.

The private elevator buzzes quietly as it bears her upward. It’s quite small, though Kara supposes that makes sense if it’s a private elevator. It smells clean, which is nice. A good elevator should smell clean. Not that she has many opinions on elevators, as they were kind of useless to her on a whole.

“God, calm down, Kara. Stop overanalyzing the elevator.” She hisses to herself. This shouldn’t be a big deal. Talking to Lena _literally_ could not go any worse than the first time. Whatever happens will happen and she really should be focusing on not crushing the hot chocolate cups in her hands.

Gradually, the elevator slows until it comes to a gentle stop. Kara sucks in a huge gulp of air in preparation. As the doors slide open, she wills herself into a productive state of mind, with only her goals, objectives, and steady planning being allowed into her frame of mind. Kara steps out into the hallway, head held high. She’s got this, no worries.

That mindset, of course, gets viciously punted out the window as soon as she lays eyes on Lena. Lena, who is waiting for her with her fingers steepled and her sharp eyes immediately assessing who has entered her domain. Lena, who is so stunning with the daylight striking her that Kara almost forgets how to breath.

“You have a starling ability to show up places you’re not welcome.” Lena says. Kara’s feet carry her forward, stopping a few feet away from Lena’s desk. Her brain fizzes in an attempt to form the right words.

“If I wasn’t welcome, why would you invite me up?” Her mouth says, acting on autopilot in the face of her brain melting.

“Hm.” Lena hums, her red lips splitting in the ghost of a smile. “Though I hate to have my time wasted, I can’t say that I am not a bit of a gambler.”

“And you’re gambling on me?”

“In a way.” Lena’s head tilts. “I’m interested to see what exactly you are trying to do.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Don’t play dumb, I’d like to believe we’re both more mature than that.” Lena waves her hand at the free space in front of her desk. She raises her eyebrows at Kara. “Go on. Do whatever it is and then go report back to Lex or whoever.”

Kara frowns at the command. She hadn’t noticed it before, but there is a level of jaded cynicism radiating off of Lena. She is looking at Kara like she’s the knockoff version of a bear in a circus tent, about to attempt to entertain her and ultimately fail. And that doesn’t sit well.

Lena is still waiting for her to do something. After a moment of deliberation as to whether she should just walk out and never come back, Kara takes a step forward and offers her the now slightly cool hot chocolate. She gets a confused look in return.

“What’s this?” Lena frowns. “Not to be dramatic, but I’m not going to let you poison me with an unmarked cup.”

“It’s not poison, it’s just hot—well, cool chocolate.” Kara shrugs, holding Lena’s gaze.

“Why are you giving me this?”

“Like I said, it’s a peace offering. An apology for scaring you.” Kara explains. She holds the cup steady before Lena. Now is not the time to back down from a challenge, and Lena is definitely challenging Kara to make her move. If cup is the axis of their nonexistent relationship, it’s up to Lena to set both of their worlds right.

“What made you ditch the red?” Lena waves a finger at Kara’s new clothes.

“I’m not trying to make a statement today.” Kara says, holding the cup up slightly higher. “Peace offering?”

Lena considers the cup. Kara waits.

“Before I take this— _if_ I take this,” Lena says, biting at her lip, “I want to know something.”

“Go ahead.”

“Was it you? Did you decorate my apartment yesterday?”

Beneath the flat, calculating hardness in Lena’s eyes, something akin to genuine curiosity lurks in her icy irises. It’s hard to spot, like a fish in a river, but it gives Kara a little bit of hope, just tantalizing enough to make her want to take a dive.

“What do you think?”

“I think,” Lena leans forward and lowers her voice, “that it was you and you are not who you say you are.”

“Well,” Kara matches her tone, “I won’t tell you that you’re wrong.” Lena eyes flash at the words and Kara takes that as encouragement to keep going. “But, I’ve also never lied to you. My name is Kara and I want to help you.”

Silence. Lena looks at the cup, then back at Kara, then back at the cup.

“How exactly does breaking into my home—twice now—help me?”

Feeling brave, Kara waggles the cup slightly and says, “Why don’t you let me show you?”

Lena takes the cup.

If, in that moment, Kara could have used all of her strength to leap over a building in pure joy, she would have. This felt like a real victory, even as Lena sips the tepid drink and grimaces. Kara doesn’t care. She has her foot in the door and that’s something that she can work with.

Lena is the first to speak again.

“So you haven’t poisoned me.” She chuckles. “I can’t say I enjoy hot chocolate though, regardless of the temperature.”

“That’s fine!” Kara is quick to assure her. “I prefer eggnog myself.”

It’s funny, honestly, how Lena is looking at her like she’s going to suddenly turn blue and sprout gills. It’s like the other woman’s interest is piqued, but she can’t seem to decide whether that’s a good thing or not. Although, to be fair, Kara wasn’t exactly human, so she wasn’t exactly off the mark in sensing something ‘other’.

“Are you going to tell me who sent you now?” Lena sighs.

Kara laughs and decides if she’s going to make a play, she might as well run with it. There is no use in half-truths and assumptions.

“My boss is Santa Claus, but I get the feeling you’re not going to believe that that’s true.”

Lena snorts, “I can’t say I believe in Santa Claus, no.”

“Y’know, the big guy has a lot of problems with that kind of thing.”

“I admire your dedication to this act, Kara. Whoever hired you picked the right person for the job.” Lena shakes her head and sets her cup down on her desk. “I don’t know how you’ve been getting into my apartment and I don’t know how you continue to maintain this charade like it’s the truth, but, as a businesswoman, I have to respect it.”

Kara dips her head and looks away from Lena. Her hands and fingers tangle agitatedly behind her back, because while everything has gone well up to this point, Lena still seems to hold the belief that Kara is here as a trick.

“If I have your respect, can I ask you something?” She says, her earlier confidence waning now that there is double the opportunity for rejection. Lena catches her eye and beckons for her to continue with a loose hand. “I kind of feel like you think that this is all a big joke. Why is it so hard for you to believe someone would want to help you have a nice Christmas?”

The self-assured smirk that had previously held reign over Lena’s face falters, but only for a millisecond. In fact, it comes back with twofold force once she has processed Kara’s words.

“I don’t have many friends in National City. Or anywhere else, for that matter. What I do have is people who hold a deep-seated hatred for my family’s name and myself by proxy. My brother has done some horrible things. Forgive me if I struggle with the idea that anyone would wish me well during the holidays.”

She has a point. Perhaps, in Kara’s original optimism when she arrived in National City, she had failed to take into account that things like human distrust were often larger barriers to change than the mountains of the North Pole were to the outside world. She and Lena were certainly coming from two different places. This kind of skepticism wasn’t exactly a prevalent mindset at a magical workshop, but maybe she should have seen it coming in the mortal world.

“I guess it’s a good thing I don’t hate you for things you haven’t done.”

“Ha. That’s novel.” Lena says. She purses her lips and regards Kara. “Would you believe me if I said I wanted to be something different than my brother?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Do I need a reason?”

“I’m a Luthor. We don’t play the game of truth very often.”

Kara extracts her hands from behind her back. She closes the remaining distance between her and Lena and lays her palms flat on the smooth surface of the desk.

“Well, maybe it’s time to stop being a Luthor and start being Lena.”

The tip of Lena’s tongue flicks out to wet her lips as her eyes widen almost imperceptibly. If there wasn’t a phantom of a smirk still caught in her features, Kara might have been afraid that she offended her.

“You are different, Kara. I wouldn’t normally waste my time on something like this, but I can’t help but say you’ve caught my attention.”

“Does this mean you’re going to let me help you?”

Kara’s heart is in her throat as soon as the words are out of her mouth. This is make or break, this the turning point. This is the minute moment that is going to either send her packing back to the North Pole or move her one step closer to a Christmas success. When Lena begins to speak, Kara has to gather all of her focus to make sure her palms don’t punch through the desk.

“If I agree, what will it entail?”

“I’m not sure yet, but I have some ideas.” Kara shrugs sheepishly. “It will be good though, trust me.”

Lena taps a finger on the desk.

“And this is truly a genuine offer?”

“Of course.”

“Then how can I refuse? Fine, Kara, I accept your ‘help’.” Lena sighs like she can’t really believe she’s agreeing. Kara leaps backward, brilliant smile plastered across her face. She claps her hands together and bounces on her toes with something like a low whine of excitement slipping out of her lips. Lena reclines in her chair and stares at her.

“Sorry.” Kara blushes. “I’m just excited.”

“Clearly.” Lena smirks. She glances down at the clock on her desk and runs a hand through her hair. “Unfortunately, however, I have a meeting in half an hour that I have to prepare for…”

“Of course, of course, I’ll get out of your hair.” Kara assures her, backing up with a little bounce still in her step. Her eager movement sends the backs of her calves into a table behind her, disturbing a large spread of paper laid across it. Some of them flutter to the ground.

Kara twists around to rearrange the sheets. She shuffles them back into a neat pile and replaces them on the table. When she turns back around, Lena is watching her.

“Anyway…” Kara exhales. “Before I go, you want to tell me something you like about Christmas? So that I have something to work with.”

Lena’s answer comes quickly.

“I like the snow.” She says, a little wistfully. She spins her chair slightly so it’s parallel to the view of the gray cityscape. “Where I was born, there was always snow at this time of year. It was beautiful. Sadly for me, National City hasn’t had a white Christmas in a decade and it will probably continue that trend this year.”

“Snow? I can do snow.” Kara scoffs.

“Oh, really?” Lena chuckles. “Well, unless you have some magical power to make it snow, I won’t hold my breath.”

“Don’t doubt me yet. Are you free tomorrow night?” Kara asks, stuffing her hands into her pockets to hid their excitable fidgeting. Lena’s look of begrudging amusement shifts as a different kind of gleam takes over her eyes.

“I could be. Why, has this been an elaborate scheme to get me to go on a date with you?”

“No!” Kara squeaks and then coughs. “I mean, no, it is not. It’s just going to be a little adventure, that’s all.”

“Mmhmm.” Lena nods. “I’ll move somethings around. You can meet me here, downstairs. Goodbye, Kara.”

“Right, yes, I’ll be going. Dress warm!” Kara dips her head and makes a beeline for the elevators, high as a kite. Before she can even make it off of the office carpeting though, Lena’s voice catches her.

“Oh, and Kara?”

“Yes?”

“Stop breaking into my home.”

 

 

 ***

 

 For several hours after leaving L-Corp, Kara is on cloud nine, literally.

Upon leaving the building and ducking into an alleyway, she had exploded into the sky, relying on speed and city smoke to mask her rapid ascent from the people on the ground. Now she’s lounging on a nimbostratus, dopey grin in full effect. For some reason, her heart is very fluttery. It’s _probably_ because she’s making headway with her charge, no other reason.

It couldn’t be that her charge is surprisingly charming in a kind of imposing way. Or that she seems kind of cynical to the world, but also quick and funny because of that. Or that she has really, really pretty eyes— ** _not_** that Kara spent any amount of time thinking about her eyes because she is _working_ and _doing her job_ and _following protocol_. All that mattered was that she was getting her chance to give Lena a Christmas and keep her away from the Naughty List.

Although, now that she thinks about it, what reason would Lena have to be in danger of being relegated to the Naughty List? She wasn’t cruel as far as Kara could tell, nor was she following in her brother’s footsteps. Was this a precautionary mission?

A part of her wants to call Alex and ask. Yet, when she told Lena that she believed she wanted to be different from her family and her brother, she’d meant it. A call to Alex for information might accidentally prejudice Kara without her necessarily having a right to be so. If she was going to give Lena a chance, she would do it with impartial trust. It was only fair.

 _And fair is fair is fair_ , Kara thinks to herself, mindlessly repeating the word in her head until it had little meaning beyond a sound.

“Fay-yer.” She drawls. This is all just the manifestation of the giddiness popping about in her gut. Having hours of down time could only mean that she had to entertain herself and the energy running through her in creative ways. At the Pole she could have gone to the toy assembly department and helped speed their quotas along or run laps with the reindeer, but here there wasn’t much to do that would truly distract her mind from her plans and Lena.

That was okay though, really. It was dark now, and the city was coated by thick clouds that masked her from the ground below. Mother Nature had done Kara a big favor by rolling these babies into town because A) they are big and B) they are practically begging to be turned to snow. These giant balls of vapor are essentially ‘empty’ even though they are made of water. All they need is a little push from Kara. Or, really, a blow.

Kara lifts herself off the damp, fluffy masses and floats up so that she has a good view of the amount of distance she’s going to have to cover. Because Lena wanted a white Christmas—or at least snow in general—and the realization that she could achieve such a wish had come to Kara easily. If she had ice breath, why the hell wouldn’t she use it?

Kara sucks in a deep, deep breath, expanding her lungs as far as they could go. She holds it for a second and summons the lick of cold that has always hung in the back of her throat. It tingles in her mouth like the really minty toothpaste Alex likes to use and is actually a rather pleasant sensation if she ignores the way her lungs are burning at the same time.

But eventually, the buildup has to be released. In one fell swoop, Kara lets the icy blast come howling out. It bombards the tops of the clouds in a wide arc, trapping the water vapor within them and turning it solid. With her enhanced hearing, she can pick up the sound of the particles crystalizing and hardening—like a symphony of spoons tapping against glass. After a few seconds of direct contact, the area of clouds she hangs above are fat with tiny, soft snowflakes.

Kara moves methodically from there on. She takes the expanse of clouds over National City section by section, freezing them each until they are fit to burst. She hits the stretch of sky over L-Corp, the part over Lena’s apartment, the park, downtown, the art district, the warehouse yards, everything.

Sometimes she has to dip below the top level on the especially large ones, just to ensure that there is even coverage. It’s on one of these excursions that something on the ground below catches her eye. It’s the large pond that sits quietly in one corner of the city’s central park.

Kara pauses her personal polar vortex and drops lower out of the clouds, studying the pond. It’s rather shallow and clearly man-made, but still very beautiful in its own way. Shaped into a simple oval, it had a quaint little fence separating it from the parks walkway. It was also complete unfrozen.

Abandoning the clouds for a moment, Kara flies down towards the deserted area. There isn’t anyone to spot her descent as the pond and the old, peeling sign that says “ _Free Ice Skating_ ” have been left unattended, probably because the flat waters of the pond are useless to anyone at this time of year if they aren’t skateable.

Without another thought, Kara blows a thick sheet of ice over the pond. She puts a little more power behind this effort than she did with the clouds because this ice needs to have some stamina, especially if it’s going to be the stage on which she lets the third part of her plan play out. Once she’s done, the entire surface is frozen solid.

“What do you think, Jack? How’d I do?” Kara tilts her head back and speaks to the open air. Her words puff into condensation that dissipates before her eyes. She laughs quietly at the silence. “Come on, I think I did okay for an amateur.”

From nowhere, a rogue gust of bone-chilling wind billows directly into Kara’s face. It spirals up around her, tosses her hair in every direction, and then, once it’s had its fun with her hair, ruffles the folds of her scarf.  Kara blows a tiny wisp of ice into it in response.

“Well, I _did_ learn from the best.” She says, feeling the wind snake over her shoulders, down her arm, and off the tips of her fingers.  She wiggles them in goodbye. “Thanks for the visit.”

The rogue gust swirls around her one more time and blasts an absolutely subzero ripple of cold at her face. Kara smiles into it and watches as the wind goes howling back to its master, rustling the bare branches of the park trees as it went. Once it is gone, the world feels excruciatingly still.

Kara brushes a hand over the top of her mussed hair, musing on the particular habits of certain elemental beings. When it comes back down, she notices that her palm has one damp, cold spot on it.

“Huh.” Kara says, casting her eyes up. “That was quick.”

Above her, the first pure white snowflakes are lazily wandering down from the heavens on an unsuspecting National City.

 

 ***

 

“You got incredibly lucky,” is the first thing Lena says to Kara when she steps out of the L-Corp lobby and into the nipping cold of the night. It’s been a day since they’ve seen each other and Kara is struck by how different Lena looks bundled up in a thigh-length black coat, black boots, and a black hat with a fuzzy pompom on.

“How did I get lucky?”

“You said you’d bring me snow and this freak storm let you keep your word. You’re lucky.” Lena says. “Extremely so.”

“You don’t think I could have made this happen?” Kara smiles as Lena trudges resolutely past her and down the wide steps that led up to the building. Her boots crunch on the mixture of freshly fallen snow and the salt Kara watched workmen slosh generously over every inch of L-Corp’s walkways. Kara jogs to catch up with her.

“You can’t control the weather.” Lena says with a slight tick of annoyance in her tone, like she thinks Kara is trying to patronize her. She walks with quick, measured steps; completely surefooted even in the presence of sudden snow. It’s impressive.

“No, but I can make it snow.” Kara shrugs happily as she catches up and matches Lena’s stride. “Maybe you should start taking my magic powers seriously.”

“I wasn’t aware luck was a magic power.” Lena quirks her lip.

Kara laughs and shakes her head, “I’m wounded, Ms. Luthor. My friend Jack Frost and I are experts at all things snowy.”

“Oh, so you’re friends with Jack Frost? Do you two do brunch with Frosty the Snowman?”

“Only if he’s available.” Kara says, rolling her eyes to add to the effect. “He’s spends so much time dancing around and leading children to traffic cops, I hardly see him.”

It could be a trick of the light under the street lamps, but Kara thinks she sees Lena’s shoulders twitch…almost like she laughed. And, now that she’s allowing herself to stare, Kara notices the way the tip of Lena’s nose and her cheeks have turned a flushed red in the cold, and how they match her lips. She tears her eyes away.

“Hey, I know you have your whole ‘CEO walk’ going on, but I think I need to lead so we can actually get to our destination.” Kara bounds ahead a step so she can face Lena and backpedal in time with her.

“Remind me again why I’m letting a complete stranger talk me into going to a secret location with her?”

“Because I asked nicely.” Kara states firmly. She flips around and falls back into line. They keep a nice pace, though the sidewalk is getting thinner the farther away the move from the center of the city. It pushes them closer together to avoid bumping into the people walking in the opposite direction. Lena’s wearing gloves and Kara isn’t and it’s hard not to notice that their swinging hands are coming uncomfortably close to brushing each other with each step. 

Kara tenses her left arm and finds herself diverting half of her brain power to precisely controlling the arc of her hand so that there is _no brushing_. She uses the other half to take in the scenery around her, because that’s better than looking at Lena and trying to walk.

Her handiwork came out handsomely. All of National City is coated in a blanket of fresh, fluffy snow and still more is coming down at a leisurely pace. In the business district it had not been as easy to see with the work crews coming in and clearing or salting most of it away, but now that they’re moving away from all of that, the picture becomes clearer.

As the building shrink in size and the storefronts relax from the chic design of high-end brands to the older brick of family-owned restaurants and shops, the snow takes on a new quality as well. It touches the awnings and the streetlamps more gently, piling up like it knows they have been here a lot longer than the flashier parts of downtown. These buildings are a little older, a little dingier, but they stand with a kind of mismatched dignity that has to be admired. They are charming old things, even though they look like they’ve been crushed against each other and none of the brickwork matches and the sidewalk is uneven. A few of the places even have lights strung along railings or in windows that still shine through the buildup of frost and snow.

Kara can’t help but feel a little bit proud. For an area that didn’t see a lot of snow, National City sure did look beautiful covered in it.

Eventually though, Kara slides her gaze to Lena. She’s been quiet.

“What are you thinking about?”

Lena keeps her eyes straight ahead. “I’m actually working on a project nearby here. It’s my mother’s project, actually, but L-Corp is running and funding it.”

“What’s it for?”

“A new development. Speaking of which, I need to call the contractors and see what we can do about pushing the deadline…” Lena says, her eyes glazing over as she visibly retreats back into the mindset of running a company.

“Hey,” Kara nudges her arm. “Don’t start thinking business right now. You’re here to have fun.”

“I don’t know what this ‘fun’ is, you haven’t given me any hints.”

“It’s there.” Kara says, pointing ahead of them. “There’s your hint.”

Lena follows Kara’s finger. In front of them, laid out in sprawling white, is the park. The wrought iron fence that surrounds it is topped in snow and all of the previously bare grass and trees are covered liberally, as are the benches, the trashcans, and the bushes. The whole place is nothing short of a winter wonderland.

Grinning, Kara picks up the pace. They jog across the street and through the iron archway and it’s like stepping into another world. The roar of cars on the street fades, the hiss of industrial heaters fades, and the low mumble of the conversations of other people fades.

Inside the park, it is just the two of them, illuminated by the warm light of snowy lampposts.

 “This is beautiful.” Lena whispers, because when caught in a moment like this, one mustn’t disturb the bubble of quiet. She spins a little, her face tucked into the lining of her coat, and her eyes track over every inch of the landscape. “This is just…”

“Beautiful.” Kara finishes, and she’s not looking at the snow.

Lena steps away and traces the tip of a gloved finger through the undisturbed snow on the top of a bench. It parts easily for her as she makes zigzag patterns with the flick of a wrist.

“I used to love drawing patterns on the very top layer of snow.” She says as her hand glides around with the lightest of pressure.

“Why the just the top?”

 “It didn’t destroy it.” Lena explains. She flattens her palm and sweeps it lightly across all of her work. Kara moves closer and sees that the patterns have disappeared and been replaced with a fresh canvas. Lena brushes her glove off. “It kept it beautiful.”

“That’s noble.”

“My mother didn’t think so. She delighted in the way Lex would go crashing into the snow and build snowmen and then throw balls of ice at them to knock them down. She always told me he had a real eye for making things and that I was being silly for not wanting to disrupt the snowfall.”

Kara doesn’t know what to say to that, so she waits and watches the patterns get drawn, erased, and drawn again. Some are very intricate and some are quite simple, but all of them are swept away in the end. Eventually, Lena realizes that she’s not alone in the park.

“I’m sorry, I…didn’t mean to slow us down.”

Kara waves her off. “No need to apologize, we’re almost there.”

“Lead on.”

It only takes about five minutes to reach the pond and when they do, the aura of quiet is shattered. Unlike the night before, the pond is ablaze with light and host to a sizable group of people. Families with children, couples, and packs of teenagers whirl around the ice like toys on a track, around and around and around. Tinny speakers pour Christmas music into the scene, which is accompanied by laughter and the sound of children playing.

“This is your big idea to get me into Christmas?” Lena scoffs. “Ice skating?”

“It’s part of it, yes.”

“I honestly expected something a bit more flamboyant.”

“Should I have worn the red suit?” Kara chuckles, raising her eyebrow.

Lena shakes her head. “I never said flamboyant was a good thing.”

They walk side by side to the nondescript structure that was advertising rental skates. They figure out what sizes they need and Kara subtly pays for the rental while Lena is busy jamming a skate onto her heavily-socked foot. It takes Lena double the time to lace herself up that it does Kara, but Kara doesn’t offer her assistance on the grounds that she doesn’t like the way her gut tingles at the thought of lacing up Lena’s skates for her.

“How are you at skating?” Kara asks as they hobble over to the gate. Lena’s got both of her arms stuck out like a bird that’s about to take flight.

“I’m fine at it.” She says between gritted teeth.

“You sure?” Kara grimaces as she unlatches the gate. “I can get you a milk crate if you need one.”

“Milk crates are for kids.” Lena is quick to catch Kara in a withering stare. “I do not need one.”

“Okay…” Kara steps out onto the ice and puts her hands on her hips. She lets herself glide a few inches and then turns to face Lena, who has yet to step foot on the rink. Lena is glaring down at the ice like she can intimidate it into not being slippery. A kid in a blue coat zips past her and she frowns at him like he’s offended her in some way.

Gingerly, Lena touches the tip of her skate to the ice. She uses each side of the gate as a vault and practically hefts herself into the rink. The awkward angle means that her lower body starts to slide away from her upper body as soon as her skates touch down again, so she has to cling to the wall to keep upright. Kara holds in a giggle.

“Lena, do you need help?”

“I’m fine, Kara. Go skate, I’m just warming up.” Lena hooks one arm over the wall and uses the other to shoo Kara away. “Go, go, go.”

Rather than stand in everyone’s way, Kara takes Lena’s direction to heart and pushes herself into the circling flow of the rink. Needless to say, for her, being on ice is like second nature. It doesn’t have the same mechanics as flying, but Kara trusts her muscles to know what to do in the same way. She glides around slower-moving groups and decides to do a lap for the hell of it. Eventually, as she gets to the far side of the rink, she has to skate backwards to keep an eye on Lena, who has moved maybe an inch since getting on the ice. Feeling sympathetic, Kara cuts a path across the center of the rink and wraps around to her struggling companion.

“The milk crate is still on the table.”

“I am a grown woman and the CEO of a multi-billion dollar company, I will _not_ use a milk crate.” Lena snaps.

“You’re clinging onto that wall like a cat avoiding water. Will you at least let me help you?” Kara offers. “I don’t want you to be glued to this spot, that’s no fun.”

Lena deliberates for a moment. She looks at Kara’s completely relaxed stance on the ice and then at her own buckling knees.

“Fine.” She sighs. “Help me.”

Kate skates closer and offers her hand. “Can you stand on you own?”

“No.”

“Okay, that’s fine. Just let me…” Kara reaches down and pries Lena’s hands off the wall one by one. Immediately, she is forced to balance both of their weight. “Whoa, okay, try to keep yourself upright.”

“I can’t.”

“You can,” Kara assures her, “I just need to give you a little extra balance.”

Lena’s joints are locked and her arms desperately want to pinwheel around, so Kara does her best to prevent either of them from falling by exerting a little extra strength.

“The trick of it is to push your feet in a ‘C’ shape.” She explains, demonstrating with her own skates. “Trying to walk normally is what makes you fall.”

“That’s riveting information.”

“You’re really snarky when you’re nervous.” Kara narrows her eyes. She pulls Lena into a more upright position and delights in the way her gloved fingers clutch around her own. “Easy tiger.”

“Did you bring me out here to make fun of me?” Lena grumbles. She’s starting to get her footing, though she’s still pushing most of her body weight into Kara’s palms. “Because that would be a lot of work for very little reward.”

“No, I want you to enjoy yourself. Come on.” Kara starts skating backwards, drawing Lena with her.

“Whoa, whoa!” Lena yelps, but Kara keeps going, using her momentum to keep Lena standing. She passes them seamlessly through the crowd and heads towards the center of the rink. Lena would be crushing the bones in her hand by this point if Kara was human.

“Hey, hey, relax.” Kara says as Lena jerks around. “Just follow my strokes.”

“If I fall, I am going to—“

“You’re not going to fall.” Kara catches her eye. “I won’t let you fall.”

Kara skates them in a glacially slow figure eight, giving Lena tips and holding her steady as she grows incrementally more comfortable on the ice. After about the twentieth repetition, she actually considers letting her go.

“Do _not_ let go of my hands.” Lena gasps when she feels Kara loosen her grip.

“Lena, you can do this. And if you fall there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Kara, no—“

“Look at me, I’m letting go.”

“ _Kara!_ ”

Lena flails without her support, but she doesn’t fall. She wobbles and her legs kick up unnecessarily high on each stroke, but she shakily skates the pattern Kara has been carving.

“Look at you go!” Kara gloats, gliding behind her.

“If I could make myself turn and get you right now, I would.”

“You wish.”

“I’m gonna—“ Lena starts, but the words get caught in her throat. She mistimes a stroke, and Kara sees what’s going to happen before it does. With a burst of extra speed, she flashes in front of Lena and catches her before she goes crashing to the ground. Kara grabs her by the arms and cushions Lena against her chest.

“You okay?” She says, suddenly painfully aware of how close they are. Lena’s face is right _there_ , still looking shocked from her near wipeout. Kara licks her lips and tries to keep her eyes on the mass of people skating around them.

“I’m fine.” Lena breathes. She’s so close Kara feels her warm breath on her skin.  She’s so close that when Kara makes the fatal mistake of looking down, she’s utterly transfixed.

Lena is looking up at her with rosy cheeks and snowflakes caught in her hair and on her hat. Like Snow White, red lips and all, she’s a vision of royalty that’s wrapped in Kara’s arms. It’s hard to think feeling the rise and fall of Lena’s lungs through her coat and her heartbeat against Kara’s chest. They’re still moving on the ice, but time has essentially stopped for Kara. She’s frozen.

“I, um, I—“ Kara is floundering. Lena’s hands are fisted around the sides of Kara’s jacket. She’s basically letting Kara hold both of them up as her legs lock and weave like Bambi on ice.

“Sorry,” Lena says. “I lost my footing.”

“Oh, no worries. I told you I’d catch you.” Kara titters, her voice high and tight. She glances over her shoulder to ensure that they aren’t going to smash into anyone. “Do you want to go back to the wall?”

Out of the corner of her eye, Kara sees Lena bite her lip.

“No. I’d like to stay out here, I think.”

“Um, okay.” Kara exchanges her grip on Lena’s arms for her hands. “Hang on to me and I’ll keep us both up.”

They enter back into the flow of the rink. Kara relies on her reflexes to keep them from knocking people over as she skates backwards and that probably be a simpler task if she wasn’t so caught up by having Lena directly in front of her.

“I still don’t get why this is Christmas-y.” The tense focus on Lena’s face has relaxed to calm curiosity. She seems perfectly content to allow Kara to lead the whole time.

“Ice skating is very festive.”

“You could ice skate in January.”

“Maybe it’s more about having companionship.” Kara says. “Doing things with the people you’re close to.”

“We aren’t exactly close. I don’t know you.” Lena points out. Her words sting Kara a little bit, but she chides herself for allowing them to. They are essentially strangers to each other, no matter how tight Lena is holding onto Kara’s hands.

“Ask me something then.”

“Where are you from?”

“The North Pole.”

“Bullshit. Why are you doing this?”

“I want you to be happy on Christmas.”

Lena barks out a harsh laugh and shakes her head, refusing, suddenly, to meet Kara’s eye.

“For a liar, you really are infuriatingly genuine.” She chuckles humorlessly. “I look into your eyes and you stare back like you actually believe what you’re saying.”

“I do.” Kara’s brow furrows. She wants to say something, yet there are no words that don’t break the rules of her assignment. Playing along with Lena’s disbelief is one thing, attempting to explain that she was literally a secret agent tasked with saving Lena’s Christmas spirit is something else entirely.

“Well, I—wait, Kara.” Lena pauses and looks at something out of Kara’s view. “We’ve passed that little girl three times and she’s still just sitting on the ice. I think she’s lost.”

Kara twists her torso around and scans the rink. It only takes her a second to spot the little ball of pink crouched near the wall a few meters away from them.

“The one in the pink? Are you sure?”

“Why else would she be alone? I don’t think she’s old enough to be by herself.”

“You want to go talk to her?”

“I think we should.” Lena says. Her gaze hasn’t left the girl.

“Okay, hang on.”

Delicately, Kara cuts them through the groups of people and backs herself towards the wall. Once they hit it, she places Lena’s hands on it so she has control over her own movement. Immediately once she’s under her own power, Lena starts pulling herself to the girl. The kid is obviously barely older than a toddler and she looks like she’s been crying.

“Hey, sweetie?” Lena says, shakily lowering herself to the ground. The little girl glances over at her with teary eyes and curls into herself a little more. “Hey, my name’s Lena. What’s yours?”

Kara holds back from the exchange. She doesn’t want to scare the girl by adding another person to the equation and it looks like Lena knows what she’s doing.

“Honey, are you lost?” Lena tries again. The girl sniffles and wipes a dirty pink mitten under her nose. She’s got miniature skates on that are laced all the way up with pink laces that match the rest of her outfit. “Are you here with your parents?”

Nothing.

“Do you need help?”

Nothing.

Finally, Lena smiles and gestures to the girl’s coat. “I like pink, too. Is it your favorite color?”

That gets a teary nod.

“I also like blue.” Lena says. “And I think my friend Kara here likes red.”

“I love red.” Kara nods. “Big fan.”

The little girl scrubs her nose again and studies Lena.

“M’name’s Sophie.” She mumbles.

“Sophie?” Lena gasps. “Now, that’s a beautiful name! Who gave you that name?”

“My dads.” Sophie whimpers as fresh crop of tears well up in her eyes. Kara’s heart breaks at how small her voice is.

“Oh, sweetheart, where are your dads? Are they here?” Lena scoots closer to the girl. She holds out a hand to her and Sophie looks at it warily. “Can you stand up so we can look for them?”

“I can’t move. I’m gonna fall.” Sophie sticks her skinny legs out and gestures to the skates. Her leggings are soaked from sitting on the ice and she’s shivering.

“Kara,” Lena beckons. Kara moves closer and crouches down to be level with her and Sophie. Lena turns her attention back to Sophie and reaches out to put the barest of touches on her shoulder. “Sophie, would you let Kara pick you up? I promise we won’t leave the rink, but we need to stand up if we’re going to find you dads.”

“I guess so.” Sophie says, turning her wet eyes to Kara for the first time.

“Hey, Sophie.” Kara waves. She feels a hand wrap around her bicep. It’s Lena, silently telling her to get moving. Fearful of scaring the girl, Kara scoops her up by the armpits as gently and slowly as possible. The poor thing is light as a feather and drenched by the ice. She shivers in Kara’s arms.

“Where did you last see your dads?” Lena asks her, using the wall to pull herself into a standing position. She scans that whole rink and then turns back to Sophie. “Are they on the ice?”

“No.” Sophie shakes her head and burrows into Kara’s jacket. “They were tying their skates and they told me to wait for them, but I didn’t.”

“We should just take a lap around the edge.” Lena suggests to Kara, still trying to spot Sophie’s parents. Kara nods and shifts Sophie to her left arm. She then offers her right hand to Lena, who takes it without a word.

It’s slow going trying to make it around a rink of this size with not one but _two_ people who can’t really skate. Lena is the closest to the wall, so she takes over the responsibility of asking people if they have seen two men looking for their child. Kara takes over entertaining Sophie.

“You know what Lena forgot to tell you, Sophie?”

“What?”

“I know Santa Claus.” Kara whispers conspiratorially. Sophie’s eyes light up.

“You do!” She gasps.

“I sure do. Isn’t that right, Lena?”

“Yes, that’s correct. Kara’s from the North Pole.”

“The North Pole.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Kara smiles as Sophie’s mittens fly into her shoulders in excitement. “I’ve lived there since I was young. I was adopted.”

“So was I!” Sophie squeals, her tears forgotten now that she’s speaking to a resident of Santa’s Workshop. Kara winks at her and glances over at Lena, who is watching them out of the corner of her eye with a surprised look on her face.

“I guess that makes us a trio, then. I was adopted too.” She says and Kara is instantly reminded of the letter Lena wrote, begging for a family. Just the thought of it makes her squeeze Lena’s hand faintly, even though the other woman has no idea what Kara knows.

“Do the reindeer really fly?” Sophie asks.

“They do. Blitzen is the fastest, but I think Prancer flies the prettiest. Although, in his younger days, Donner could have given them both a run for their money.”

“Which one is the biggest?”

“Dasher and Donner are about equal to each other, so it’s a tie.”

“Do they like carrots? My dads said we need to leave them carrots so that they can have a snack on their ride.”

“That’s very kind of you Sophie, I’m sure they’ll appreciate it. Cupid loves carrots. I’ll tell him it was you who left them.”

It’s pretty obvious that Lena is listening intently to the whole conversation. Kara catches her lips quirking every so often and it makes her feel a little silly but also a little warm. All she’s doing is telling the truth, though maybe Lena finds it funny that Sophie is taking her words as utter facts. That makes Kara chuckle to herself, because if Lena knew the truth, maybe she’d be equally as interested to know which reindeer is the biggest.

“Kara, is Santa gonna put me on the Naughty List for not listening to my dads?” Sophie’s voice drops to barely a whisper as she comes to the realization that a lump of coal was in the cards. Kara adjust her hold and fixes her with a serious stare.

“No, Sophie, he’s not going to put you on the Naughty List for that. But, if you do it again, he might change his mind.”

The look of abject horror on Sophie’s face almost breaks Kara’s grim mask. She has to choke down a laugh because it would ruin the lesson.

Sophie midsentence her questioning tirade when a yell from behind them brings Kara and Lena to a grinding halt.

“Sophie! Sophie!” Two men—one tall and muscular and the other shorter and rounder—come scrambling across the ice, their faces wild with worry.

“Dad! Daddy!” Sophie cries, any trace of sadness completely gone. She squirms in Kara’s grip and holds her arms out to the men. Kara lowers her ground, but keeps a hand bracing her in case she takes a tumble. The muscular man reaches them first and he sweeps Sophie up like a mother hen, checking her for any marks or injuries.

“Oh my God, we were so worried!” The second man says when he reaches them. His hands fly to Sophie’s face and brush the hair out of her eyes as he scolds, “Don’t do that ever again, Sophie, do you hear me? You scared your father and I half to death!”

“I’m sorry.” Sophie says. She points a mitten at Kara and Lena. “Lena and Kara were with me.”

“Lena and Kara…” The muscular man says, acknowledging them for the first time. He gapes for a second and then gathers himself and gives both of them a grateful smile. “Did you two find her?”

“Yes, she was just sitting on the rink. I think she’s fine.” Lena says.

“Thank you so much, both of you.” The shorter man shakes his head. “We only looked away for a second…”

“No need for thanks, Sophie is a great girl.”

“Soph, you’re soaking wet! We need to get you home and dry before you get a cold.” The muscular man looks over the damage while anxiously biting his lip. The shorter man pats his shoulder and mumbles something to him, and turn to Lena and Kara.

“Seriously, thank you. If we lost her…” He closes his eyes briefly. “Just, thank you.”

“No problem.” Kara assures him. “Like I said, she’s a great kid.”

The men thank them several more times until Kara is practically shooing them off the ice so they can get Sophie warm. Both sets of adults shake hands and Sophie high fives both Kara and Lena before her father hefts her into his arms. She drapes herself over his shoulder and waves at them as her parents skates away.

“Bye Lena, bye Kara. Tell Cupid I love him!”

“We will!” Kara calls after her. “Stay on the Nice List, Sophie!”

They lean back against the wall to watch the little family leave. Ultimately, Sophie and her dads get swallowed up by the other skaters. Kara blows out a tired breath and shoots a look at Lena.

“That was unexpected.”

“Yes, definitely.” Lena nods.

“You, uh, really handled it well. You knew just how to talk to her.” There is a better compliment pleading to be let free from Kara’s lips, but she forces it down. What she wanted to say felt too personal, and Lena had already made it clear that they were barely above ‘strangers’ territory. How could she say, ‘ _You were so kind and gentle you made my heart skip a beat_ ’ and not overstep the bounds of their nonexistent relationship?

Lena rolls her eyes at what Kara _does_ say.

“Me? You were the one who had her eating out of your palm with all that reindeer business. Have you ever considered writing a children’s book?”

 “What can I say, I hung out with the reindeer a lot when I was grouping up. They were the only ones qualified to teach me how to fly.” Kara says offhandedly. When Lena scrunches her face up at her, Kara replays the words in her head and realizes, too late, how they sound.  

“Are you saying you can fly?” Lena scoffs. “That’s a bit of a stretch, even for you.”

Kara swallows the panic that had leapt into her throat and chokes out, “Yeah, a stretch.”

“So, did Sophie tire you out or are you good for another few laps.” Lena jerks her head towards the center of the rink. “I’ve got my own personal milk crate now.”

Kara blushes and digs the tip of her skate into the ice. She pushes off the wall and brings Lena with her, just like they had been doing before. And it’s nice, so nice that Kara almost misses her second realization of the night:

She and Lena never stopped holding hands.

 

*** 

The rink closes at midnight, Lena calls them a cab at 12:10, and Kara waves goodbye to her from the window of the very cab at 12:34 as it drops Lena off in front of her building. Their goodbye is quick, because Lena is cold and its late, so Kara is surprised when Lena stops with one leg out of the cab and demands Kara’s cell phone.

“I’m putting my personal number in it. Don’t make me regret that.” Lena says as she types quickly with cold hands.

“Why are you giving me your number?”

“Though I still don’t understand the point of your Christmas crusade, I think it would be good to be able to contact each other.”

“Why? I thought I was just some stranger who broke into your house and made fun of your skating.”

Lena finishes inputting her information and thrusts the phone back into Kara’s hand. She keeps her eyes downcast as she extracts herself from the car.

“You are strange, Kara.” She says. “But you are my only friend in National City.”

The door slams shut.

Dazed, Kara barely registers that the cab has pulled away from the curb. She just sort of stares at her phone and ignores the cab driver when he asks her what her stop is.

“Here’s fine.” She mumbles, blindly swiping her card for the fare. She stumbles out onto the random sidewalk of a random street and thanks the driver. He doesn’t say another word before speeding back onto the road and out of sight.

Kara calls Alex. She can barely think straight and it seems like the right thing to do.

“ _Hello?_ ”

“Hey, Alex.”

“ _Kara, is everything okay? You sound a little off.”_

“Yeah, everything’s fine. I’ve just been thinking about something.”

“ _Is it about the mission?_ ”

“Yeah,” Kara says. She closes her eyes and sees the image of Lena with snowflakes in her hair burned in living color across the backs of her eyelids. “It’s about the mission.”

“ _Is everything going well?_ ”

“It’s going great. Really good.”

“ _Then what are you thinking about?”_

“I don’t…” Kara trails off, searching for words. “I don’t think Lena is in danger of being put on the Naughty List, Alex.”

“ _That’s great news_.”

“But why am I here if she’s not?”

Alex’s end is silent for a moment.

“ _She obviously needs your help in another way, Kara. And, I’m sorry, I can’t tell you what that is.”_

“You don’t need to. I think she’s lonely, Alex. I don’t think she cares about Christmas because she’s alone.” Kara says and even she can hear the way her voice strains as she speaks. It’s almost embarrassing, really, how much empathy she felt for a woman she barely knew. A woman who loved snow and spoke softly to children. A woman who silently crushed Kara’s hands on the ice rink because she was too proud to admit she was scared to fall.

“ _Kara._ ” Alex’s voice is crystal clear over the line but Kara still listens closely because her sister doesn’t mince words. “ _If you’re there, is she truly alone?”_

“I hope not.” Kara sighs, looking up at the night sky. “I really hope not, Alex.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tropes! Clichés! What could possibly happen next? As always, comments are appreciated and you can find me at knightsgold on Tumblr. Two days to Christmas!


End file.
